St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-05-07
SPARKS SPEAKS
His Mind Regarding an Editor
Who Maligned Him.


Special to the Globe.
WASHINGTON, May 6.-The recent
complaints made by settlers in the
Southern Black Hills region are founded
upon misinformation. 1t is the settled
policy of many partisan editors to abuse
the administration, and Sparks in par
ticular, regardless of facts, truth and
honesty. 1t is a common thing for your
correspondent to receive letters from
friends all over the territory saying:
GIVE Sparks HI, and the people will
be pleased" But abuse of public indi-
vidualS is but the shallowest and most
contemplate of works. Iconoclasm is
easy. The image breaker is not neces-
Sarily an artist. He who builds and
adorns the temples of an artist is a pub
lie benefactor. The iconoclaSt is one
who can simply destroy. Any devil in
a country office can abuse the admin
istratiOn and give Sparks HI" But
the public is not i'll that manner best
served. Facts are inconvenient some
times, but it is better in the long run to
face them. The following misleading
editorial from the Sioux Falls Press was
this morning shown to Commissioner
Sparks:
POUNDING THE COMMISSIONERS.
All. tiillS sdIu III iHese tllIleS ABOUT COM
missioner Sparks must necessarily smack of
chestnutty flavor: but, however much he
may have been pounded and however trite
the subject may be, 1t is nevertheless freshly
eXaSperatlng to hear of the hardship which
his miserable administration of land matters
is working among the settlers of this terri
tory. The people of the southern Black
Hills region are almost ready for revolt, if
they only knew how to make it, on account
of Sparks failure to give them relief by or
dering survey of the lands which they oc-
cupy. They have been unable to get any
thing more than squatters titles, on account
of there having been no survey, and some of
them have had to work i'll the mines and
mills on account of failure of crops last sea.
son, thus leaving their claims open to Jump
ers. Eight cases in one neighborhood are
reported, and the whole section is being torn
up with strife and quarreling resulting from
Sparks dilatoriness 1t is simply scandalous
that interests so important to SO many honest
settlers, who have right to depend upon the
care and protection of their government.
should be left to the caprice, laziness and in
competency OF such man.
WHAT SPARKS SAYS.
However much he NAV have been
pounded, 'said Mr.. Sparks, after reading
the article, ''Sparks is still commissioner
of the general land office of this coun
try, and will so remain for the present.
If | were to reply to that article. /
should simply say that its author is an
Internal rascal. He is not an ignorant
man, and hence, knowing better, he de-
sends to vituperatiOn and lying. He
knows that am doing all that | can do
with limited appropriations. Other
editors are miSled into abusing me. T
am sorry for them. But man of intel
ligence, who has the gall to hold an Of
flee under Democratic administration.
will wilfully abuse another servant of
the same administration is simply an in
fernal rascal. Don't omit that state
ment. Every man who has sufficient
Intelligence to construct a sentence for
publication knows that l am only al
lowed S25, 600 a year for surveying for this
entire continent. My predecessors have
had 100000 for this purpose. / am
hampered for means, and vet these
no man can do. | have repeatedly
asked the congress of the United States
for 100000 for surveying the public
lands. By the Vaccinations of such
partiSanS as Senator Plumb have been
cut down. and hampered. The apprO-
prlatlon for last year, or the year lust
ending, was $4,000. The appropriation
for the coming year is 10000. and it was
secured by the personal efforts of my
self with my former colleagues in the
house, Mr.. Randall and Mr.. Holman
and others. Because the
APPROPRIATIONS ARE INADEOU ATE
to manage business as it ought to be, the
commissioner is denounced by those
who want surveys made, and black
guarded by ScOundrelS who know better
like this rascal of the Sioux Falls Press
The fact is, the commissioner has done
| all that is possible for any man to do. TO
get congress to appropriate money
enough to make suitable surveys. Such
surveys as are repeatedly asked for and
as repeatedly refused, are not made.
and cannot be made, because there is no
money to make them with. No money
has been appropriated, Notwithstanding
the fact that the commissioner
has importuned congress persist
emily to do so. hope
that have said enough
to satisfy any decent and reputable man
| that impossibilities are asked. The
time, which makes all things even. will
come when these fellows who make
business of abusing Sparks will be COM
PEELED to do him justice. Even with the
limited amount at my disposal have
| caught the Benson gang, and am about